In The News

Fuel shortage - An Associated Press sampling of 92 major cities throughout the U.S. shows that gasoline lines are nonexistent in 52 of them. But if you live in New York, Chicago, Bridgeport, Hartford, Portland (Ore), Eugene (Ore), Baltimore or Tucson, you are likely to wait an hour or more before getting any gas for your car. Overall, the eastern section of the country seems to have the longest lines. . The Midwest is trouble free with Chicago a major exception.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Soviet Union’s greatest living writer, is stripped of his citizenship and spirited out of his native land by the secret police to an unwilling exile in West Germany.

Watergate - Special Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski says that President Nixon had cut him off from dozens of tape recordings and documents that he needed to complete his investigations and that those negotiations are at an impasse... Meanwhile, a federal judge criticizes Jaworski for discussing the veracity of ousted White House counsel John W. Dean III during a February 3 television interview. “It seems to me your good sense ought to keep you off talk shows.” “Any further lapse” from the court’s rules against commenting on the case outside the courtroom “will have increasingly serious consequences.” The judge said any prejudice cause by Jaworski’s televised comments could be cured by excluding from the jury, those who heard the special prosecutor’s statement or read about it.

White House police shoot down a stolen military helicopter on the south lawn of the White House. Jack Warner of the secret Service says the stolen aircraft buzzed the White House around 1am and returned at 2am, at which time it was fired upon by officers with shotguns. The helicopter landed on its own after it was hit by the shotgun blast. The unhurt pilot, Pfc. Robert Preston, was arrested.

The British government announces a record 20% increase in food prices in the past year and Labour opposition leaders promptly accuse Prime Minister Edward Heath of “cheating the people.” Labour party leader Harold Wilson accuses the government of letting prices soar while trying unfairly to hold down wages. The figure was coupled with a record 12% jump in the cost of living.

Former Vice President Spiro Agnew visits Frank Sinatra at his Rancho Mirage, California home (near Palm Springs). He is expected to take part in a celebration of Jack Benny’s 80th birthday. The continued assignment of Secret Service agents to the former Vice President is raising eyebrows by some in congress. The General Accounting Office two weeks ago questioned the legality of Secret Service protection for Agnew. It is being provided at President Nixon’s request... A few days later, Controller General Elmer Staats informs the Treasury that he would not allow any further use of federal funds to provide Secret Service protection for Spiro T. Agnew.

Julie Nixon Eisenhower (25) undergoes a major operation for removal of a benign ovarian cyst. Doctors stopped the internal bleeding, which had led to the operation. They are calling her condition satisfactory.

Fascinating Facts – Pop Trends – February 12, 1974

Pop Trends - Ouija Boards are selling briskly these days. Parker Bros, which gained all rights eight years ago, reports 1973 sales topped 400,000 up 10% from the previous year. The boards retail for about $3. The invention of the Ouija board is credited to William Fuld, a customs inspector from Baltimore, who took out a patent in 1892.

Best-selling books – February 12, 1974

Burr - Gore Vidal

The First Deadly Sin - Lawrence Sanders

Postern of Fate- Agatha Christie

Theophilus North - Thornton Wilder

The Honorary Consul - Graham Greene

Beulah Land - Lonnie Coleman

The Hollow Hills - Mary Stewart

Plain Speaking - Merele Miller

How to Be Your Own Best Friend - Mildred Newman

The Onion Field - Joseph Wambaugh

In One Ear and Out the Other - Sam Levenson

Alistair Cooke’s America - Alistair Cooke

The Joy of Sex - Alex Comfort

Portrait of a Marriage - Nigel Nicholson

The Onion Field - Joseph Wambaugh

The Best of Life - David E. Scherman

Radio news – February 12, 1974

Maureen Reagan leaves her Mon-Sat shift on KABC radio in Los Angeles. She held forth the 6-8pm shift on the talk station. She’s leaving to costar in a Jack Webb NBC movie of the week - “Vector” and hopes that it will become a fulltime series. The departure was described “very sudden and amicable.” She’s the daughter of California Governor Ronald Reagan and actress Jane Wyman.

Entertainment/Celebrity/Movie news – February 12, 1974

Dean (Paul) Martin Jr. (22) is formally indicted on two federal firearms violations by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. He is charged with unlawful possession of eight machine guns and an antitank gun and transferring firearms in violation of federal law. Currently a student at UCLA, Martin was arrested on January 16 and faces 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted. He’s the oldest son of singer/actor Dean Martin.

Movie news controversy - dispute over terminology and actual on-screen credit - Eileen Dietz (22) says she was paid $16,000 “to be invisible” in “The Exorcist.” She claims she worked on film six months and that the demon-possessed character of Regan is a composite performance by herself, Mercedes McCambridge and Linda Blair, who won the Golden Globe for the role. Petitioning the Screen Actors Guild, Ms Dietz claims she was unfairly forced to sign a gag order preventing her from publicizing the fact that she was Linda Blair’s double in the movie. Warner Brothers contends that Ms Dietz’s charges are untrue and that Linda Blair played every scene in the movie herself. “I feel like John Dean at Watergate. I am only asking someone to listen to me. I have nothing to gain by lying and being found out, except a whole mess and an end to my career.” In her grievance petition she continued - “To my knowledge Linda Blair did not shoot the (vomiting scene) because the appliance did not fit her mouth. I also shot the spitting, shrieking and struggling scenes, the levitation scene, the crucifix scene, just about all the possession scenes. I understood when I was hired by Billy (Friedkin) that he wanted a strong, experienced actress on the set and just to leave it at that.”